d of tea-tree, or
Melaleuca, which had a short time before been recognised by a Malay as
that producing the valuable cajeput oil, and on trial, the oil procured
from the leaves by distillation, was found to be scarcely inferior in
pungency to that of the Melaleuca cajeputi of the Moluccas. Here, too, we
saw some of the playhouses of the greater bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis)
and had the pleasure of witnessing the male bird playing his strange
antics as he flew up to the spot and alighted with a dead shell in his
mouth, laid it down, ran through the bower, returned, picked up the
shell, and rearranged the heap among which it was placed, flew off again
and soon returned with another--and so on.

SAIL FROM PORT ESSINGTON.

On November 16th we got underweigh at daylight, but the wind died away in
the afternoon, and we anchored halfway down the harbour. Next day we got
out to sea on our voyage to Sydney. We were all glad to leave Port
Essington--it was like escaping from an oven. During our stay the sky was
generally overcast, with heavy cumuli, and distant lightning at night,
but no rain fell, and the heat was excessive. These were indications of
the approaching change of the monsoon--the rainy season, with a wind more
or less westerly, usually commencing in December and continuing until
March.

December 3rd.

Latitude 11 degrees 2 minutes South longitude 123 degrees 11 minutes
East. Today we may be said to have cleared the land after a dead beat to
the westward, between the Sahul Bank and the islands of Timor and Rottee.
It took us eleven days to make good less than 300 miles. The land was in
sight during the greater portion of this time, and we had a good view of
the noble mountain-range of Timor, also of Rottee and the Strait of
Semao, which last we entered with the intention of passing through, but
the wind headed us and we had to pass to the southward of Rottee. For a
few days after leaving Port Essington we experienced very light and
variable winds, which gradually settled into south-westerly, with
occasional gloomy blowing weather and frequent squalls at night.

RETURN TO SYDNEY.

At length on January 24th, 1849, a long and monotonous passage of
sixty-eight days brought us to Sydney, from which we had been absent for
nine months.

CHAPTER 1.5.

Fate of Kennedy's Expedition.
Sail on our Third Northern Cruise.
Excursion on Moreton Island.
History of Discoveries on the South-East Coast of New Guinea and t